JOSEPH BLASCHECK

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2457, 10 May 1915, Page 7

JOSEPH BLASCHECK

ACCOMPLISHED RACONTEUR. AND ."RECITER. Mr. Joseph Blascheck, the richlytalented entertainer, reappeared in Wellington at the Grand Opera House before a large and certainly a most deeply appreciative audience on Saturday evening. J us t how clever an entertainer he is one doubts if even he himself is conscious. Not only on Saturday evening, but on previous occasions, Mr. Blaschec'r lias suggested that s P lr '?, humbleness, modesty, and gentility which is as manna and honeydew to audiences that have never become quite used to the bold assertiveness which so often accompanies talent •J! m ™ locre quality or is associated with people devoid altogether of the power to entertain legitimately. Mr. Blascheck is first of all a skilled monologuist, not perhaps in the truest sense or the word, as lie does not play his own accompaniments, but we have never heaid more artistic blending of spoken words with music as that given by Mr. Blascheck and his gifted co-per-iormer, Miss Alyce Austin, on Saturday evening. They work in delightful harmony throughout the long proSrfnnio in a manner altogether unique. Mr. Blascheck at one stage confessed that it would be difficult for him to find the right term precisely to describe his entertainment, out made tho claim that it was at least original. And it is. There is created between the audience and those on the stage an intimacy that ft almost confidential in character, and one feels after the first half-hour that one has knovn Blascheck for ages. Others have felt the same as the writer, and could not explain how the relationship was brought about. Who is the parent that could not feel the lump in tho throat at Blascheck's recital of "His First Long Trousers," a simple little scene between father and son, but it is just packed with the thoughts all feel, but which, are seldom expressed. The poem is a sentimental bull'seye, and Blascheck hits it every time. His style is deliberate, his emphasis always correct; everything he does is coloured with a voice, the tones of which are always in accord with the character and sense to be conveyed, and his face is a wonder book of vivid expression. As "The ' Country J.P.," which is pure farce, Blascheck has the power of creating the very gtmosphero of the stuffy little court, and in the yokel in "Not Such a Fool as He Looks," he almost persuades one that a Wessex villago is near by in tho wings. It is this yokel, who boasts about being the first one to discover tho bankrupt publican hanging behind the bar door, and when asked why he did not cut him down before running off for the police, said, "Well, zur, 'e warn's quite dead then!" Mr. Blascheck's sense of delicate comedy was also nicely conveyed in "It's Not for Me," 'Ho Met Her oil the Stairs," and "Ef Yer Like." He was impressive in Henry Chappell's topical verses, "The Day,'' and W. E: Henley's "Invictus" (in which the reciter _ should not attempt to intone) lent intellectuality to Hamlet's soliloquy following the players' first scene, and fire to Henry's speech to the English troops before Harfleuer. Mr. Biascheck's singing voice is an oddment. 1 13 i a chortle, not even a musica! chortle, yet it is pleasant to hear. \\ ith Ins lively action and illuminating facial expression, Mr. Blascheck creates a something that appeals, and his vocal numbers m association with Miss Austin were not by any means tho least enjoyable of the evening. The manner "tHa'av u ii I)U i llt Tr Up tllc Spurr EOn K .The World Went Very Well Then," is quite entertaining and amusing, and the acting of both was effective. Then they sang tho "Doll" duet from "Tho Geisha, Kissing is no Sin," "SpringCleaning, and that quaint little talc of submarine love "The Two Shrimps." Mr. Blascheck has a sprightly and very capable coadjutor in Miss Alyce t nrpft i-h'f y<mng Viclo . ri an lady has a pretty little soprano voice, very fiexlfi * bri S ht * texture, that is slightly, affected with a tremolo. With ®f oep . tlon ler Production is excelI, • S n lgs any k' nd of music glibly and genially, and there is alwaji tfc Srd SUr V f \ 6mg ablo t0 bear I"" *™? if?, f, So T ? l J e ,r a .?g ed 'with easy faciland "TIL ir -ii 3 » Se Sar<m E{,se " and The Marseilles," to "Florrie tho ?j*p pe >: rr " Let l V' Waltz IV gethei. Her pert liumour tvas also in evidence m "Visiting and At Home " The Breezy Soueezy, Up-to-your-Kneesy Sea, and "His Little Teddy Bear. Miss Austin also sang the popular recruiting song, "Your King anrf "Tlf 1 r n (Rubens), and Three Green Bonnets." To further prove her versatility, Miss Austin a 1 "Impromptu" nil y a understanding. The Blascheck-Austin recitals will he continued, throughout the week with tresh items oach evening. On Friday next tho audionco will bo given an opportunity of nominating its own nrograinme. L